Kelly McGillis — 30 Years After ‘Top Gun’
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The hit film "Top Gun" was released 30 years ago on May 16, 1986 — and the movie had more to offer than Tom Cruise and jet-fighter action! The movie also offered up Kelly McGillis in her breakthrough role as civilian Top Gun instructor Charlotte Blackwood. Kelly had won plenty of fans after working with Harrison Ford in 1983's "Witness." Then the steamy sex scenes with Cruise in "Top Gun" made her a star!
Photo credit: Getty Images
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But The National ENQUIRER was there in 2002 as Kelly put an end to her Hollywood life and began to pursue lesbian love in Pennsylvania! Kelly had more big-screen success with "The Accused," but had began to grow tired of limited role in the film business. That was when she made her move to the small town of Reading, Pa., after leaving her businessman husband Fred Tillman and their two daughters in Florida.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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"I'm starting a different segment of my life," said McGillis, who was 44 years old at the time. "I had life pressures. My marriage was falling apart. I came into a period of introspection." The former star moved into a small apartment above a delicatessen, and was close to the Amish country that she had known during the filming of "Witness." It was also a move that had Kelly once again confronting the lesbian rumors that had followed her rise to stardom!
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Kelly, however, insisted that she didn't care — having left her family shortly after playing a lesbian college professor in the erotic thriller "The Monkey's Mask" (pictured). "I knew this movie would start all that lesbian thing up again," she said, "and it doesn't bother me. It isn't about me coming out — but if people want to think that, that's fine. I don't care.'
Photo credit: YouTube
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But The ENQUIRER was also reporting that Kelly already was being seen regularly with a ladyfriend while she worked on renovating a local farmhouse. That woman would turn out to be Melanie Leis, a former bartender who had worked in Florida at a bar owned by her former husband (pictured with Kelly in 1999).
Photo credit: Getty Images
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The retired movie star would enjoy her new life away from the spotlight, but continued to deny being gay right up until 2009 — when she finally came out of the closet. “I’m done with the man thing," she finally declared in an interview with a lesbian website.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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2014 Winter TCA Tour – Day 3
Kelly (seen here in 2014) and Melanie entered into a civil union in 2010, and broke up the next year. Kelly's also taken on the occasional movie role over the past several years, while teaching acting after having moved to North Carolina. And, like her "Top Gun" costar Val Kilmer, Kelly's open to returning for a sequel: "I’d cameo in it, maybe!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
The hit film "Top Gun" was released 30 years ago on May 16, 1986 — and the movie had more to offer than Tom Cruise and jet-fighter action! The movie also offered up Kelly McGillis in her breakthrough role as civilian Top Gun instructor Charlotte Blackwood. Kelly had won plenty of fans after working with Harrison Ford in 1983's "Witness." Then the steamy sex scenes with Cruise in "Top Gun" made her a star!
Photo credit: Getty Images
But The National ENQUIRER was there in 2002 as Kelly put an end to her Hollywood life and began to pursue lesbian love in Pennsylvania! Kelly had more big-screen success with "The Accused," but had began to grow tired of limited role in the film business. That was when she made her move to the small town of Reading, Pa., after leaving her businessman husband Fred Tillman and their two daughters in Florida.
Photo credit: Getty Images
"I'm starting a different segment of my life," said McGillis, who was 44 years old at the time. "I had life pressures. My marriage was falling apart. I came into a period of introspection." The former star moved into a small apartment above a delicatessen, and was close to the Amish country that she had known during the filming of "Witness." It was also a move that had Kelly once again confronting the lesbian rumors that had followed her rise to stardom!
Photo credit: Getty Images
Kelly, however, insisted that she didn't care — having left her family shortly after playing a lesbian college professor in the erotic thriller "The Monkey's Mask" (pictured). "I knew this movie would start all that lesbian thing up again," she said, "and it doesn't bother me. It isn't about me coming out — but if people want to think that, that's fine. I don't care.'
Photo credit: YouTube
But The ENQUIRER was also reporting that Kelly already was being seen regularly with a ladyfriend while she worked on renovating a local farmhouse. That woman would turn out to be Melanie Leis, a former bartender who had worked in Florida at a bar owned by her former husband (pictured with Kelly in 1999).
Photo credit: Getty Images
The retired movie star would enjoy her new life away from the spotlight, but continued to deny being gay right up until 2009 — when she finally came out of the closet. “I’m done with the man thing," she finally declared in an interview with a lesbian website.
Photo credit: Getty Images
2014 Winter TCA Tour – Day 3
Kelly (seen here in 2014) and Melanie entered into a civil union in 2010, and broke up the next year. Kelly's also taken on the occasional movie role over the past several years, while teaching acting after having moved to North Carolina. And, like her "Top Gun" costar Val Kilmer, Kelly's open to returning for a sequel: "I’d cameo in it, maybe!"
Photo credit: Getty Images
